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Will Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Give Their Baby a Traditional Royal Name?

The royal tot is *almost* here, and we have a lot of questions, like boy or girl? Aries or Taurus? Redhead or … not redhead? (OK, we’re mostly interested in the third question, tbh.) But as for a question that yields fewer multiple choice options, we have a big one: What will Baby Sussex be named?

Will Meghan Markle and Prince Harry opt for a traditional name (you know, one that honors approx. 1232431 ancestral royals from centuries past), or go the celebrity spawn route and pop out a “Carrot” or “Hurricane.” Well, according to royal historian Carolyn Harris, the answer falls somewhere between the two extremes.

“Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby will be 7th in line to the throne, they have more freedom in their choice of baby name,” Harris explained.

As the direct heirs, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children bear the traditional names George (which has belonged to six British kings, including the Queen’s father), Charlotte (a possible nod to 18th century Queen Charlotte and/or grandpa Charles), and Louis (after Prince Philips’s beloved uncle Lord Mountbatten).

Conversely, someone further down the line of succession, like William’s cousin Peter Phillips (14th in line), has daughters named Savannah and Isla, neither of which follows tradition.

“Harry and Meghan will likely choose a name that is more traditional than Savannah or Isla but not necessarily the name of a previous Kings and Queen, such as George and Charlotte,” Harris says.

“A number of previous royal children born 7th in line to the throne have been given traditional names but not names that are common within the royal family,” she told InStyle. “For example, Princess Margaret named her daughter Sarah, and the Queen has a younger cousin, Prince Michael of Kent. Both were born 7th in line to the throne and have traditional names but not the names of past Kings and Queens within the British royal family.”

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So frontrunners Victoria and Albert (the full name of King George VI) seem less likely options than a traditional moniker that’s less directly connected to the royal family like Nicholas or Emma.